Kitchen Adventures: Toddler Approved Apple Muffins

Mealtimes at my house have become a battle of wills and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm generally on the losing side of them. I guess that is when you know you are the parent of a toddler. It seems like every play date I go to these days always ends in the "what is your baby eating these days" conversation. Which is great because then I don't feel so alone. Recently, a friend sent me this recipe for apple muffins and the little man LOVES them. I'm not sure where this recipe originally came from so if you are the source, please let me know and I will make a note of it in this post. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vanilla yogurt (one 6 oz container)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup chunky applesauce (I have used both sweetened and unsweetened applesauce)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, mix yogurt, baking soda, and baking powder. 
Set aside. 
In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (except baking soda and baking powder, which you've already put in with the yogurt).

The yogurt mixture should be slightly puffy by this point. 

Add the applesauce and eggs to it and stir.

Mix wet ingredients into dry.
Pour into greased muffin cups (or use liners). 
Fill muffin cups about 1/2 full. (I like to only do half b/c then the muffin doesn't come out of the top of the cup and overflow the edge.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden brown, with cracks in them.
Let cool and serve! 

The last batch I made actually resulted in 16 muffins so its up to you and how much you fill up the cups. I have also frozen these and defrosted them as needed. I hope you and your family enjoy these muffins as much as we do.

Kitchen Adventures: Lightened Up Version

Like everyone else, we are trying to cut back here as we recover from the gluttony of the holidays. I've been scouring my cookbooks and magazines to find a few healthy recipes for us to try. I recently found a great recipe for Salsa Chicken from Cooking Light's website. It was simple and easy to prepare. Plus it was perfect for a weeknight since it only took me about 25 minutes to fix. 

I served it with a side of black beans and salsa for a perfect and healthy dinner on a weeknight. I would love to hear if you have found any quick and easy healthy meals to start off the New Year. 

12 Goals for 2012 - Part Two

I realize this is a long post so I wanted to split it up. A few of my other goals for this New Year are: 

7. Mingle with other moms: I don't have many mom friends but the ones that I have I treasure. I hope to meet more new moms in 2012 because its nice to know that someone else is in the same boat as you.

8. More playdates for W: Since W isn't in daycare anymore, I have worked very hard to give him socialization with other babies. We tried Gymboree and playdates but I still feel like I'm falling short, so in 2012 I'm committing to get him around other babies.

9. Spend our money on experiences instead of things: Since we don't need any more stuff, I want to spend our money on experiences in 2012 instead of things. 

10. Learn Spanish: I took Spanish in college but now know very little Spanish. This year I want to learn more basic words and phrases so that I can speak it to W. Fortunately for us, my husband’s best friend just moved to Atlanta and he is fluent in Spanish. 

11. Spend a night away from W: So this year, I hope to do something I haven’t done yet and that is spend a night away from the little man. I know it will be hard but it’s a must. I need the

break and he needs to spend more quality time with his grandparents. 

12. Travel: I'm not sure I will swing it financially but I'm dying to hit the road again. The problem with being a traveler at heart is that no matter how many places I've been there are a hundred more places I want to go. I hope that 2012 will have me packing my bags!

What are your goals or resolutions for 2012? I am declaring 2012 will be a great year for all of us. 

12 Goals for 2012 - Part One

I don't know about you but I'm ready for a new year. 2011 was a trying year for me and I struggled a lot in my new role of motherhood. At the same time, I wouldn't trade a second of it. Every year I make resolutions and after a few weeks most them are forgotten. So for 2012 I'm not making resolutions, instead I'm setting goals for the new year.


Worry Less and Enjoy More: I feel like I spent more time this past year worrying than anything else. I worried about my job, the baby, the house, my health, my marriage - you name it and I worried about it. So this year, I've decided to not worry so much about the present, the future or the past. Instead, I want to enjoy the time I have with my family.


Get organized and purge: I must confess that my husband and I are both pack rats. It wouldn't be so bad if just one of us had a lot of stuff but when both of you do it can be a problem. When we moved into this house, I thought for sure we would have so much room but it turns out we don't because we have so much stuff. Now, on top of all of our stuff we now have a ton of baby stuff and I have finally had enough. One of my goals is to get rid of some of the things we have and to organize the things we want to keep. I know this will take me most of the year to do and it will be a long, hard process but I hope that at the end of 2012 we will have less stuff to weigh us down.


Complete a few house projects: If I had $50,000 laying around, I would have the perfect house because I could fix all of things that I hate about our house. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money so I have to pick my battles. The bad part about moving when you are 5 months pregnant is you don't have the energy to tackle the small DIY projects. I want to finally take the time to do a few simple projects that will make our home more enjoyable, because its those small things that I hate and drive me crazy on a daily basis.


Eat healthier: One of the great things about having a toddler around is that they watch you all day long and they watch what you eat. In the last few weeks, I have had to give up snacking around my son because he wants to eat when he sees me eat. Planning healthy meals can be a challenge with a picky eater, but I want W to see us eating healthy so that he will be a good and healthy eater as he grows up.


Expand my culinary horizons: I know I've written about this before but I really want to commit to experimenting more in the kitchen. It seems that we are always eating the same few meals and I'm tired of it.


Find my purpose: Since getting laid off from my job, I've really struggled with my purpose in life. The job market hasn't helped me either since it seems impossible for me to find another job these days. I have enjoyed and have treasured the time I have spent at home with my son but I feel like something is missing. I don't know what it is but I know I'm meant to do something else too.


I realize this is a long post so I'm going to break it up into two. Stay tuned for more goals for 2012! In the meantime, what are your goals or resolutions?

It's a Wrap on Christmas 2011

Well, Christmas is officially over in our house. We finally packed up the tree and put it back in the garage until next year. Since W is now toddling around and into EVERYTHING we made the decision to put the tree in our formal living room this year instead of the den. Thanks to the baby gates we installed a few months ago the tree wasn't the great temptation that we thought it would be. Of course, anytime we did anything around the tree (including opening presents on Christmas Day) the little man was more interested in climbing the stairs.

We had a wonderful and busy second Christmas in our new house and with the little man. We were surprised at his birthday party that he didn't have much interest in opening presents and that continued with Christmas this year too. I'm sure next year he will be all about opening those gifts. Instead this year, I did the wrapping and the opening so it was fun for me.


We were so lucky that my grandmother (and W's only living great-grandparent) was able to come up to Atlanta for the weekend. My granny's at that age where she doesn't like to travel away from home overnight. She claims its because when she's off with us we treat her like an invalid but I digress. I know W won't remember that she was here but our family will and that made the holiday more special. She also bought W his first bible as a Christmas gift and that is something I will treasure for the rest of my days.

We had a house full this year with 8 adults. I wasn't sure if we could do but we can. And we had a great time with everyone under one roof from dawn to dusk. My sister's boyfriend is from Germany so he shared a few special customs with us. We all enjoyed the experiences and I hope it made him feel better to have a little bit of home with our holiday celebrations.

The Feuerzangenbowle - mulled spice wine before the flames

and after

Here are just a few candid shots from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I hope you and your family had as wonderful of a holiday as we did. I don't know about you but I'm ready for 2012!

The Happiest Days of My Life

So this post is in honor of my grandmother who just celebrated a birthday. Since its never polite to mention a lady's age, I won't tell you how old she is but I'm in my late 30s and she was 50 when I was born so you can pretty much figure it out from there. 


Every time I talk with my grandmother, she tells me how lucky I am to have been home with my son and how I shouldn't go back to work. Of course, she is of a generation of women that didn't have the option of working and raising children so I understand where she is coming from. 


Even though, my grandmother didn't have a choice about working outside of the home, she loved being a mom and raising her children. She tells me all the time how those were the best years of her life. But I know her child rearing days had to be hard. She had 4 children within 5 years and she didn't have the luxury of disposable diapers and take-out. She had to cook every meal from scratch and in those days husbands didn't babysit or change diapers. I can't imagine what her life was like in the thick of those days. 


Regardless of the reality, here she is at the end of her life and those years were her happiest. I hope that when I'm her age and I look back on my life that I will remember these years as my happiest too. One of the great advantages to being an older mom is that I've done a lot with my adult years. I've traveled the world and enjoyed wonderful experiences unlike my grandmother. So far none of that can compare to this journey called motherhood - it has been the most wonderful of wonderful experiences. 


I hope that when I look back on my son's first year, I remember when and where I was when he rolled over for the first time (that's probably a bad example since I was at work), said his first word, stood on his own, or took his first steps. I hope that I remember the happy days, the smiles, wet kisses, and cuddles and not the arguments, feeling so tired that my bones ached, or the crying, all the crying (from both him and me.) I don't want to remember the bitterness I felt after getting laid-off, the sleepless nights from worrying about college funds and savings accounts, or all of the "things" I didn't get to buy or do. So today in honor of my grandmother's birthday, I'm committing to enjoy this time because as we all know there are no guarantees on tomorrow. 

Christmas Cookie Swap

I recently attended my first ever cookie swap with a play group that we've been hanging out with over the last few months. When I told my husband, I was going to a cookie swap his first reponse was "Are you going to make the toffee cookies?"A few years ago, I found a recipe for Oatmeal Toffee cookies on the back of the Heath Toffee bits bag. My husband loves toffee so I made them and now a few times a year he request them. They are perfect during the holidays. 

I will admit up front they aren't pretty cookies but they are delicious. If you are looking for a new or different cookie recipe this year, you might just want to check out these Oatmeal Toffee cookies. They are a little bit of toffee, a little bit of chocolate, and a little bit of oatmeal and its a perfect combination. You can find the recipe from Hershey's web site and you can find the Heath bits in the baking aisle with the chocolate chips. 

Happy Baking!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I don't know about your house, but the holidays are in full swing here. I love the holidays and this year it is even more special with the little man around. But this post isn't about the holiday instead its about the movies. I'm so hoping with the extra people in our house that I can steal away a few hours to go to the movies. I love going to the theater this time of the year. The studios put out the best movies in hopes of getting some Oscar nominations. Just a few of the movies I'm dying to see are: 


The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo


I read this book last year and I've seen the Swedish version of the movie. I really like Daniel Craig so I have a lot of high hopes for this movie. I so hope I'm not disappointed. 

The Descendants


Who doesn't love George Clooney? 

Young Adult


I've loved Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" and "Thank You for Smoking" so I'm hoping to like this movie too. I'm not a big fan of Diablo Cody (the screenwriter of "Juno") but I'm willing to give this movie a chance. I just hope that they haven't shown all the funny scenes in the trailer. 

Hugo


A friend of mine went to an advanced screening of this movie and has been raving about it ever since. Martin Scorsese is behind it so I'm sure its a winner. 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close


I'm predicting I will need a box of Kleenex to get through this movie, but I think it will be great movie. 

I just recently saw "The Help" on DVD and I loved it more than the book. If you haven't seen yet, add it to your list. The acting and directing were superb. I'm sure it will get a few nods during the award season. 


So are there any movies you will be seeing this holiday season? What else should I have on my list?

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Today is my son's first birthday. We had a chance to celebrate last weekend with our family and friends so today was just for us. We had our first year check-up and then we went to the Georgia Aquarium. We haven't been the aquarium in a few months so it was fun to see how much W enjoyed our trip this time.  We ended the evening with W showing off his new walking skills. I think its only a matter of time before he's running all over the house. Lord help me!

Time is Flying By

I have a confession to make, I'm not exactly sure what happened to the last six weeks but they are gone. They just flew right by me. It started with a week vacation at the beach and then we had three sets of house guests within the course of a week. Then Halloween came, and then the first birthday party to end all birthday parties. And now here I am on the eve of my sweet boy's first birthday. I'm not sure where the time has gone. It just seems like yesterday that I was waddling around the house complaining about my back and now here he is almost one. 


It blows my mind to think that this time last year, I was in a hospital bed waiting to be induced the next morning. Waiting and waiting. You wait for those 40 long weeks to end and then when they do you don't know what to do. If you are like me you are terrified when they send you home from the hospital. I remember saying to the discharge nurse, "Are you sure you should be sending this baby home with us? You don't know if we are capable or qualified to care for an infant." She just laughed and said "You will do fine. You are capable of more than you think you are." Boy was she right. I had never changed a diaper until we got home from the hospital and I had never spent any real time with babies. 


In fact, during the pregnancy I called myself the reluctant mommy. Motherhood wasn't something I had ever planned for myself but it happened and I can't imagine my life without this sweet boy. Of course before he arrived, I couldn't imagine my life with a baby either. I guess the saying is true, "God never gives you more than you can handle." He sure knew what he was doing when he sent us this beautiful little boy. 

Our First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

It seems that once you have a baby you start to do things that you never thought you would do. For us, we moved to a neighborhood last year that we probably would have never moved to if I wasn't pregnant. I've decorated my house with Halloween decorations - not only did I decorate but I had to buy the decorations!?! So last weekend, we were blessed with some great weather and we decided it was time to take the little man to North Georgia for his (and our) first trip to mecca of all things fall - Burt's Pumpkin Patch. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this idea since the pumpkin patch was packed!


W had a great time people watching and playing around in the pumpkins. It also turned out to be a perfect photo opportunity too. I just love this Halloween-themed outfit from Beehave. But it must have looked girly because for the first time in 11 months, someone actually called my son a girl. I know it was an innocent mistake but still it hurt my feelings a little bit.

Kitchen Adventures: Bourbon Brown Sugar Steak

A few weeks ago, I committed to trying a new recipe a week. So far, some of the recipes have been a success and some have not. To start out my "Kitchen Adventures" series on a successful note. This recipe was a collaborative effort since my husband is the grillmaster around our house. 

We don't eat red meat that often so when we do its a real treat. We've been experimenting over the last year with flank steak and so far we've found a few great ways to make it but this might just be my favorite. You can find the recipe for the steak at food52. I just marinated the steak for about 2.5 hours before grilling it. We also through some asparagus on the grill with the steak and baked a few potatoes in the oven to finish off the meal. The steak had a slight bourbon flavor and smell so if you like bourbon this is a dish for you. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

Happy Cooking!

The Queen of Butter is as Sweet as Sugar

Today, we got a chance to meet the quintessential Southern cook, the queen of butter herself - Ms. Paula Deen. The Savannah restauranteur is best known for her cooking shows on FoodTV network, "Paula's Best Dishes" and "Paula's Home Cooking." We've been lucky enough to eat at her restaurant, The Lady & Sons, a few times over the last couple of years and every recipe I have ever cooked of hers has been a big hit. Generally, I go to her site when I'm planning a special meal or entertaining. I always know that the dish will be great. Some of my favorite Paula Deen recipes are: Pumpkin Gooey Bars, Tomato, Corn and Avocado salad, Black Pepper Shrimp, and Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup.  Last week, Ms. Deen's new cookbook, Southern Cooking Bible, was released and she is currently on a book tour.

W and I got to her book signing today just as they were wrapping up so fortunately we didn't have to wait in line to meet Ms. Deen and her husband Michael Grover. They were gracious enough to pose for pictures with W. I wasn't really sure what to expect but Ms. Deen was just as nice and friendly in person as she appears on TV. Both her and Mr. Grover talked with me for a few minutes and asked me about my son. Having met her, it is obvious she is family-oriented and a boy mom (and boy grandma too). 

A European Dining Experience

The Swiss have are probably best known for bringing the world fondue. But these cheese loving people have also given the world another cook as you eat dining experience, Raclette. Earlier this year, my sister's friend introduced us raclette. I think the best way to describe it is a dining experience.


The raclette machine has eight trays to which you add your dinner ingredients and top with raclette cheese. Once you add the cheese, then you put your tray under the grill. There is a grill tray on top that you can use to toast your bread. When the cheese is melted, you can add your raclette ingredients to the bread and you start the process again. 


Since we have done raclette for both meat eaters and vegetarians, so we have used an assortment of deli meat, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, olives, and vegetables. The great thing about raclette is you can do it with lots of different fruit, vegetable, and meat combinations so each version you fix can be different from the one before.  Since you are "cooking" your dinner as you go, raclette is perfect for a small dinner party.

Have you had raclette or a similar dining experience?

Apple, I'm in Love

Its no secret we are an Apple loving, Mac family. We've been drawn to Macs partly because we are creative types and partly because one of our hobbies over the last few years has been filming, editing and producing a documentary. Apple has made film editing accessible to anyone who has the interest. 


Several years ago, we made the very difficult decision to leave Verizon and we sold our souls (and decent phone service) to AT&T so we could purchase the iPhone. We've been using the iPhone 3G for several years now and it has been a great phone - I wish I could say great things about AT&T's service but I can't so I won't. 


We've been eligible to upgrade our phones for a couple months now but we decided to see if Apple was going to release a new version. The day we have been waiting for happened yesterday. The new iPhone 4GS will be available next week. I can't wait! In case you missed it, here is the video introducing the new features. 

I'm not sure which upgrade I'm most excited about the new 8 megapixel camera or the voice command virtual assistant. What are you looking forward to in the new iPhone? 

White Chicken Chili Recipe

I may spend a lot of time watching Food TV network but I am no Paula Deen in the kitchen. In the last few years, I have cooked more than ever and have perfected a few easy recipes. My poor husband doesn't complain but I'm sure he hopes I expand my repertoire and soon. So one of my goals is to try out at least one new recipe a week. Stay tuned because I'm sure that will make for a few interesting blog posts. 


Since we've gotten a preview of fall weather these last few weeks, I had been itching to fix up a batch of white chicken chili. I think I originally got this recipe from mother-in-law a few years ago and since then I've been making it at least once a month during the fall/winter months. Its easy to make and you can easily freeze any leftovers. 


Ingredients
1-1.5 pounds of chicken breasts
2 cans of Great Northern or White Kidney Beans
Jar of Salsa
2 cans or 1 box of Chicken Broth
Ground Cumin 


Garnishes: salsa, cheese and sour cream


Rinse and drain beans. While beans are draining, bring chicken broth to a boil in a stockpot. Add the beans to the pot along with a 1/2 jar of salsa. I use Newman's Own Medium Salsa but you can use any salsa you like. I like to cook my beans for several hours but you don't have to do this. 


Once the beans are cooking, I prepare the chicken for cooking. I like to sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and ground cumin before I bake them. If you don't like cumin, you don't have to use it. Bake the chicken breasts at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until done. Once the chicken is cooked and cooled, shred the chicken. 


Once the beans are cooked to your liking, just add the rest of the salsa and the shredded chicken. 


This recipe is very forgiving, you can use rotisserie chicken instead of baking chicken breasts. 

A Rainy Day for Apple Pickin'

Even though I have never been apple picking before, it seemed like the right thing to do with the little man. Since Friday was officially the first day of Autumn, we decided to head north for a little family fun and adventure. We got a late start out of Atlanta and ended up arriving in Ellijay around lunch. We had heard a lot of great things about a bar-b-que place called the Pink Pig so we made that our first stop. The Pink Pig is in Cherry Log between Ellijay and Blue Ridge. The food was fabulous, the service was great and the prices were reasonable so we will be back the next time we are up that way. 

Since we were close to Blue Ridge, we decided to head up to Mercier Orchards. We knew that they didn't offer apple picking on Friday but we heard that they had the best Apple Cinnamon bread so we decided to ride up there to check it out for ourselves. The bread was good but the "farm stand" was a little too touristy for us so we headed south to B.J. Reece Orchards. By the time we made it back to Ellijay, the clouds had too. We had to settle for buying apples from their shop.  We got a bag of Jonagold apples and a few other things before heading home. I'm sure we will be back to do our apple picking before the end of the season.

Viva la Scarf

Many years ago when I was in Paris, I fell in love with the scarf. Most European women wear scarves, but the Parisians have made an art form out of scarf tying. Since that first trip to Paris, I've been collecting scarves from my travels since they are small and lightweight they are the perfect souvenirs. 

A few weeks ago Meredith, of the Merry & Bright blog, wrote a post about her annual Scarf Swap so I decided to participate. I was paired up with Brandi of Borchardt Birdies. After reading Brandi's blog, I knew she was a huge Texas Tech fan so I picked out a red scarf for her to wear this fall as she cheers on the Raiders. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the scarf but you can see it on her blog. 

In return, I received this great brown and green striped infinity scarf. This is my first infinity scarf and I'm excited to wear it this fall. I'm hoping it will be cool enough to wear today when we go apple picking. I can't think of a better to kick off the fall than with a new scarf!

My scarf package from Brandi 

Me and my new scarf

Thanks for the Memories R.E.M.

Today, one of my favorite bands R.E.M. announced that after 30 years they were breaking up. I haven't been listening to R.E.M. for 30 years but I have been a loyal fan for about 20 years. I have seen them perform live a total of 3 times and each concert was as great as the one before. As a student at the University of Georgia, I found out just how legendary R.E.M. was. Their first concert was performed in church and even though the church was torn down the steeple was left to mark the spot. Every incoming freshman makes Wuxtry Records a must see, since it is the store where Michael Stipe met Peter Buck. And you have to get your meat and 3 fix at Weaver D's (where its automatic) before leaving town. 


No other band has left such a mark on such town as R.E.M. has done with Athens and its not just the music. Since the members lived in Athens for many, many years they were active in the community and the preservation of historic buildings. They were artistic and business leaders who gave back to their "hometown."


Fortunately for Athens, R.E.M.'s influence on alternative music made this small town in Georgia a hot spot for tours. I saw the Counting Crows and Dave Matthews Band perform live before they hit the big time (ok I'm dating myself with that confusion) and it was all because of R.E.M. So with a heavy heart, I want to thank these four boys from UGA who changed college radio forever for all of the great music and memories. 


Its too hard for me to choose my favorite R.E.M. song so here's a video of all four members performing their classic hit, "Losing My Religion."

Fall TV Season

I have probably watched more TV in the last year than I have in the last 15 years. And I hate to say it but most of the TV shows are terrible, so more often than not our TV generally stays on HGTV or FoodTV. Over the last few years, we have watched "Mad Men," "Boardwalk Empire," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Castle," "The Mentalist," and "Raising Hope." 


I'm kind of excited about some of the new shows that I'm reading about that will be premiering over the next few weeks. I've already heard lots of talk about "Up All Night" with Christina Applegate and Will Arnett from some of the ladies in my mom's group. I think we have the first episode recorded so I just need to sit down and watch it. Some of the shows I'm getting excited to see are:


"The New Girl" - I love Zooey Deschanel so I have really high hopes for this show. 

"Pan Am" - I'm hoping this will "Mad Men" of the skies

"Suburgatory" - I live in a suburb of Atlanta but its still pretty close to the city. So even though its the suburbs we've never thought too much about it until W was born. Now we are learning more and more about life in the suburbs. 

There are also a few dramas that I'm interested in catching as well including "Unforgettable" and "A Gifted Man." I always find that I record a bunch of stuff the first few weeks and then I end up losing interest. But I hope that this year will be different and I find a few new shows to watch.  What new shows are you setting your DVRs to catch this week?